The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Peabody Dance Presents Ninth Annual Day of Master Classes and Ballet Teachers' Seminar, Nov. 8

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact Only:
Margaret Bell
410-234-4525
m.bell@jhu.edu
Donna Young
410-234-4638
donnamyoung@jhu.edu

Peabody Dance Contact:
Carol Bartlett
410-234-4626
dance@peabody.jhu.edu
www.peabody.jhu.edu/dance

September 25, 2009, Baltimore, MD: Carol Bartlett, artistic director of Peabody Dance, a division of the Peabody Preparatory, has announced the ninth year of Peabody’s highly anticipated Day of Master Classes and Ballet Teachers’ Seminar. This annual daylong event will take place Sunday, Nov. 8, from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm in the dance studios of the Peabody Preparatory’s downtown campus, 21 East Mount Vernon Place.

The pacesetting program, which has garnered an enthusiastic following from teachers and students throughout the region, is designed to reach out to and serve the broader dance community as well as Peabody Dance students. “Over the years since we started this event, the enthusiasm of the dance community has grown stronger and stronger,” noted Bartlett.

Joining Peabody Dance’s outstanding faculty and other noted teachers are three distinguished, internationally renowned guest artists. Marcia Dale Weary, the legendary artistic director/founder of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB), returns for the fourth year to teach two morning master classes and to conduct the afternoon Ballet Teachers’ Seminar’s first of two sessions, Building the Foundation: The Art of Teaching Ballet Fundamentals to Children. Other morning master classes will be taught by regional ballet luminary Rhodie Jorgenson, former American Ballet Theater dancer and now full-time faculty member of the esteemed Maryland Youth Ballet; and Laszlo Berdo, former Boston Ballet principal dancer now on the faculty of CPYB, an internationally known master teacher, coach, and choreographer.

This year’s Ballet Teachers’ Seminar adds a new second session called Training the Male Student, asking: Are there differences in approach? If so, how do we resolve them? The theme of this session was motivated by this season’s exciting new addition to the Peabody Dance curriculum: the Estelle Dennis Dance Scholarship Program for Boys (EDSB). Estelle Dennis was a beloved ballet figure in Baltimore who, when she died, left a generous trust to assist young males with dance career aspirations.

“There is a disheartening awareness in the dance field regarding the scarcity of serious male students, and, in this age of ‘Billy Elliott,’ Peabody Dance’s new program seems particularly appropriate,” said Peabody Dance Artistic Advisor Barbara Weisberger. The scholarship program, a partnership between Peabody Preparatory and the Estelle Dennis Scholarship Trust, sought to attract boys between the ages of 9 to 15 with the raw ability, physical facility, and real desire to dance. More than 50 boys auditioned with 24 invited to participate this inaugural year. Boys accepted to the program receive full scholarship for a year of study plus dance shoes.

Following registration, which opens at 9:00 am, the master classes begin at 10:00 am with three simultaneous Ballet Technique classes: the upper intermediate/advanced level for students ages 13 and up with at least four years of consistent, intensive training; the intermediate level for students ages 11 and up with at least three years of consistent training; and the elementary level for students ages 8-12 with one to three years of training, who are invited to attend by their seminar attendee teachers. (The Elementary Ballet class is a Ballet Teachers’ Seminar requirement, and observation is open exclusively to seminar attendees; teachers may select up to three students to participate.)

The second session of three master classes begins at 11:30 am and includes: Basic Pointe, a special class in pointe fundamentals for all female students in the early stages of pointe training introduced last year and repeated by popular request; Upper Level Pointe, for female students ages 11 and up with at least two to three years of continuous pointe training; and Variations/Partnering, for all male students and invited career entry level female students.

The afternoon Ballet Teachers’ Seminar, from 2:15 to 5:30 pm, consists of the two 90-minute demonstration/discussion sessions. In the first, Weary leads and her CPYB students demonstrate how she structures the “building blocks” of ballet technique. Observation of the Estelle Dennis Boys Scholarship Program boys class, taught by guest artist Berdo, will be the focus of the second session. There will be opportunities for interactive discussion and question/answer periods throughout both Seminar sessions.

Tuition for individual intermediate and advanced level students attending the morning master classes is $30 for the first ballet class only and $45 for both classes. Tuition for the elementary level class is $15 (limited to students selected by senior teachers attending the seminar). A special rate of $20 per master class is offered to students in groups of five or more from the same school and any number of students of Teachers’ Seminar attendees. Teachers of master class student attendees and/or seminar participants are cordially invited to observe the morning classes free of charge. Tuition for the afternoon Ballet Teachers’ Seminar is $80 for senior teachers and $65 for apprentice/student teachers over age 17 who are affiliated with private studios, public schools, or college and university dance programs.

For more information and to register, contact the Peabody Dance office at 410-234-4626 or dance@peabody.jhu.edu.  The Day of Master Classes and Ballet Teachers’ Seminar brochure can be downloaded from www.peabody.jhu.edu/dancemc.

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Lazslo Berdo with students Photo: Courtesy of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet
 

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About Peabody Dance
Peabody Dance, the time-honored Dance Department of the Peabody Preparatory, offers three main curricula in downtown Baltimore and Towson: the Pre-Professional Program; the Young Children’s Program; and the Open Program. The heart of Peabody Dance’s philosophy is the expectation that all students will have the opportunity to reach their own desired level of achievement. In return, an internationally respected faculty and artistic staff are dedicated to meeting the needs of their students on an individual basis and to providing exemplary training, inspiration, and encouragement. In conjunction with its primary focus on maintaining the highest standard of training in ballet and contemporary dance, Peabody Dance presents imaginatively produced performances and unique instructional programs which reach out to the dance community and enrich the cultural life of the Baltimore region.

About the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
Located in the heart of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Cultural District, the Peabody Institute was founded in 1857 as America’s first academy of music by philanthropist George Peabody. Today, Peabody boasts a preeminent faculty, a nurturing, collaborative learning environment, and the academic resources of one of the nation’s leading universities, Johns Hopkins. Through its degree-granting Conservatory and its community-based Preparatory music and dance school, Peabody trains musicians and dancers of every age and at every level, from small children to seasoned professionals, from dedicated amateurs to winners of international competitions. Each year, Peabody stages nearly 100 major concerts and performances, ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz, many of them free — a testament to the vision of George Peabody.